Stupid Cupid
by slagheapwhore
Summary: Working at Everdeen's Grocery Store can get really interesting when a few workers want to play cupid. Everlark. Modern AU.


**AN: This was my contribution to this year's S2SL fundraiser. Thank you so much to Streetlightlove1 over on tumblr and her husband for all their hard work putting this fundraiser together. Also, I just want to give a shoutout to my twin, aquarpisc, for all the help she gave me with this little piece. We used to work in a grocery store and a lot of what happens in this story, actually happened in RL. Aw, the good old days. Hope you enjoy.**

"He's looking at you again."

Katniss is filling the till on register 2 when she hears the voice. She doesn't bother looking up from her task, already knowing who the it belongs to.

"Don't ignore me, Brainless."

She purses her lips, closing the register before glancing towards lane 5. Johanna Mason, the morning clerk is lazily leaning on the belt of her register, giving Katniss a knowing look. Katniss continues to the next register before deciding on answering her co-worker.

"What was that, Johanna?" she decides on playing dumb for the moment. She really isn't in the mood to hear any of Johanna's nonsense. Before Johanna can answer, her eyes make their way towards the bakery section of the store. The donuts are being filled by a familiar blond head. Realizing what she's doing, her eyes flick back quickly to meet Johanna's knowing smirk. She scowls at the obnoxious cackle coming from Johanna's mouth.

"Shut up," she growls, her eyes betraying her again as they glance towards the bakery section once more. Only this time, they meet a pair of impossibly blue ones staring back at her.

"I told you he was looking at you again," Johanna says, suddenly beside her. Katniss jumps, not used to anyone sneaking up on her. She's usually the one sneaking up on people. Peeta waves hello, his smile too wide for someone who's been up this early in the morning. Her hand barely lifts up in a small wave, returning the gesture with a forced smile. Katniss forgets that Johanna is beside her until she speaks again. "He totally wants to bang you."

"Jesus Christ, Johanna. Shut the fuck up." A bell rings and Johanna rolls her eyes, before making her way back to the register where a customer is waiting to be rung up. Before she gets there, she turns back to Katniss.

"You know you want to," she says, then turns toward her customer with a false smile.

Katniss sighs heavily. She does like Peeta Mellark. She's liked him ever since that day. Probably even before. But, there's no way it could happen. Because there are rules. Rules that are set by management. And management doesn't let anyone slide breaking them. Even her. She sighs again before going back to getting all the tills filled for the day.

He's looking at her again. He tries not to, but he can't help it. He wonders if he makes it obvious. It's not exactly by chance he's filling the donuts at 6:15am on the dot every morning. It's the exact time she exits the office to fill the tills. Normally he gets away without her seeing him. But for some reason she looks up today. He's a little shocked, but he waves hello anyway. If he's shocked that she waves back he doesn't show it. But oh does he feel it.

"You're staring again."

He jumps and almost drops the tray of donuts he's carrying as he turns and sees Finnick grinning like a fool at him.

"Jesus, Finnick. Don't sneak up on me like that." If he wasn't holding onto the tray he would be clutching his heart.

Finnick grins widely at him. "Dude, I didn't sneak up on you. The whole store can hear me pushing these apples out. This cart is rusty as shit. You're just daydreaming about your love for Katniss Everdeen again," Peeta blushes. Is he really that transparent? "I don't know why you just don't ask her out already."

"You know why?" Peeta says.

Peeta Mellark has been in love with Katniss Everdeen for as long as he could remember, but he could never get the courage enough to even talk to her. They'd gone to school together since they were kids. He hadn't so much as spoken one word to her the whole time. The only time he came close to any interaction was when her mother suddenly passed and he left a bag of cookies for her on her doorstep. He doesn't even know if she knew they were from him. Even then he couldn't get the courage to tell her. He wished he could have done more. He was a coward. Until he turned 16. That was when he got the job at the grocery store. The grocery store Katniss worked at. The grocery store her father owned. Everdeens.

Peeta has been working at Everdeens for nearly 5 years now. He was over the moon when he got the job. Finally, this was Peeta's chance to finally get to know Katniss Everdeen. Unfortunately for Peeta, she didn't work nearly as much as he thought she would. As a minor, they were only allowed to work 4 hours on school nights. Since Peeta was new, he got all the late shifts. By the time he got there, she had maybe one hour left of her shift. He started off as a courtesy clerk. Bagging groceries for the customer, helping them out to their car, showing them where an item was, collecting shopping carts, etc. All the grunt work. Katniss on the other hand, was the youngest checker having grown up working there. Being a checker was a completely different league than a courtesy clerk. On the occasion where they did work together, he would try to help bag for her line, but she was one of the more popular checkers. Cato Roberts started around the same time he did and took a liking to her. He always happened to find a way to bag her line. Even when she was on the express line, where they didn't really need a bagger. It was obvious he had some sort of crush on her. It annoyed Peeta to know end. Katniss seemed to be annoyed as much as Peeta at least.

There were a few instances he did manage to bag for her though. She once asked him to retrieve an item that the customer needed. That pretty much made his life. But other than that nothing. A few years passed and they graduated high school. Peeta had decided to go to Panem Community College and therefore got to keep his job at Everdeens. His somewhat more open schedule also gave him the opportunity to move to a different department.

He's not sure when Mr. Everdeen noticed him, but if it wasn't for him he would be where he is today.

Mr. Everdeen gave him the opportunity when his long time bakery manager decided it was time for retirement. At the young age of 18, he decided to promote Peeta to the bakery department to start learning the ropes and in just one year, he was promoted to bakery manager. It was all so sudden and he isn't quite sure how it happened. The good thing about the job was that since he works baker hours, he's still able to attend school full time. As luck would have it, once Katniss was out of school and had started working at the store full time, she had been given the position of bookkeeper. The bookkeeper always worked early hours. Even though they now worked more hours together, there interaction was still slim to none. Three years working the same shift and they haven't said more than a few sentences to each other and those they are mostly work related.

"Earth to, Peeta!" Finnick says, waving a hand in front of his face. Peeta swats it away. "Where'd you go?"

"Nowhere," he answers annoyed. "Look, it's not going to happen."

When it got around that Cato was showing interest in Katniss, it wasn't only he and Katniss that were annoyed. Mr. Everdeen was also. So much so that one day as he was returning from his break, he overheard Mr. Everdeen talking to Cato in hushed words. Words that seemed to destroy both of them. Even though the words were low, Peeta heard them crystal clear. In no certain terms was it ever ok to date the boss's daughter.

"Dude, that was like… 5 years ago? The only reason her father said that was because one, Cato's a douche. And two, she probably made him say it. Mr. Everdeen loves you. You're like, the son he never had."

Peeta rolls his eyes. "Whatever."

"It's true, Peet." Peeta shakes his head.

"Produce. Customer service line 2." Katniss's voice rings over the PA system.

"Who the fuck is calling about bananas at 6:30 in the morning?" Finnick curses. "See ya later Peet."

Peeta laughs as Finnick leaves to answer his early morning call. Finnick was the first person to learn of Peeta's crush on Katniss. Not that it was hard to figure out. Peeta is pretty transparent when it comes to her. In fact, he's almost positive everyone in the store knows. Right down to the new courtesy clerk that just started two weeks ago. Rue, is her name and she always seems to give him a knowing smile when she's doing a sweep of the store.

He takes one last look towards the registers before he heads back to prepare more baked goods. Katniss must have already locked herself back in the office. She's nowhere in sight. Instead, he meets the eyes of one Johanna Mason. She has a wicked grin on her face. She scares him a little with how crazed it looks. He returns the smile hesitantly and heads back to finish the rest of his work.

Katniss makes sure she has Effie sign off on the paperwork before she takes her lunch. Every day is a big big big day to Effie Trinket, the supervisor on duty. She can only tolerate so many 'bigs' from her so she makes sure she doesn't linger too long in her presence. Effie's nice enough, but her and Katniss are like night and day.

She grabs her water bottle from the desk and heads up the stairs to where the break room is located. She didn't get to eat her normal breakfast of oatmeal before she left for work this morning, so her sandwich that Prim prepared is waiting in the employee fridge, calling her name. She reaches the top of the stairs in record time but stops short when she sees the blond lounging on the sofas. His head is resting against the back and his eyes are closed. His breath is coming out even and she thinks he might be sleeping. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps. His lashes, impossibly long, flutter a little as he takes another calming breath. She doesn't think she's ever seen anyone look so perfect. _No. Stop. I can't let myself feel that way._

She's so caught up in her own thought that she doesn't realize he's opened his eyes. Embarrassed at being caught, she apologizes immediately. "I'm so sorry. Um, I didn't mean to wake you," she stammers out.

"No," he yawns. "No, it's ok. I didn't mean to dose off. You would think after working these hours these past few years I would be used to it." He rubs his eyes slowly. His shirt stretches against his broad shoulders. He looks behind him at the clock on the wall and sighs loudly.

Katniss still hasn't moved from the top of the stairs. She's mesmerized when he reaches up, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling. She can't help, but follow the movement as his shirt tightens against the muscles of his biceps. She looks away, horrified at herself for ogling.

"Right. I mean, yeah." _Smooth, Katniss._ "I'm just gonna… get my lunch," she says heading towards the refrigerator in the corner of the room. She busies herself by opening the door, hoping he doesn't see her sure to be crimson cheeks.

"Yeah, no. I, uh, I gotta head back. My lunch is just about over anyway," she hears Peeta reply.

She reaches for the brown sack she placed in there this morning and heads towards the couch opposite from the one he's sitting on.

"Oh, I didn't mean that you had to leave or…" she trails off as she opens the sack to find the more than half eaten sandwich her sister made for her. "What the hell?"

"What's wrong?" Peeta asks in concern.

"Someone ate my lunch," Katniss fumes. Peeta curses as he stands. "Did you eat my sandwich?"

Peeta's eyes go comically wide as he shakes his head furiously. "NO! I, Finnick. Finnick was up here when I started lunch, um… Try not to hurt him too bad. I gotta head back. See you later, Katniss."

She's not listening though. All she can think about is getting her hands on Finnick's pretty little neck.

Peeta barely makes it down the stairs when he hears Katniss's voice come over the loudspeaker.

"FINNICK I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

This was followed promptly by Effie's, "Katniss, red line please. Manners."

Instead of heading back to his department, Peeta heads straight to produce. He doesn't find Finnick, so he heads to the back where the produce that needs to be stocked is kept. Pushing through the swinging doors, he finds him by the avocado load looking very smug.

"Finnick, you asshole. What was that?"

Finnick places his hands on Peeta's shoulders. "Relax my dear friend. I have a plan."

"Yeah, Peeta-bread. Don't worry. We have a plan."

Peeta startles and turns toward the voice. He didn't even see Johanna standing there. "Plan? What do you mean plan? You know, Katniss looked majorly pissed up there."

"Wait, you were with her? She actually talked to you," Johanna asks in shock. "Maybe she's not as brainless as I thought."

The same smile from earlier is back on her face. Peeta is definitely scared of her. He turns to Finnick and finds the same look on his friend's face. He's sure he has a look of horror plastered across his face.

"Don't be such a baby, Peet. Look, I only ate her sandwich so I can make it up to her and invite her to have dinner with us tonight."

"Us?" Peeta asks. "Us as in who? You do realize what tomorrow is right?" He seriously hopes Finnick isn't trying to trick her into going on a date with him.

"Relax. That's tomorrow night, not tonight. And it will be us, as in all of us. You, me, Annie, Johanna, whoever Johanna's fucking at the moment." This earns him a middle finger to which Finnick just grins at. "It'll be a group thing. No pressure. Maybe you guys will hit it off or be friends. Whatever."

"You know the rules, Finnick."

"Oh rules, smules. Live a little, pretty boy. You know that rule doesn't apply to you," Johanna says. "Boss man only made that up so he could get Cato off her back. She told me."

"She did?" Peeta asks, almost with too much excitement in his voice.

"Geez you got it bad." Peeta ignores her as he turns back to Finnick.

"We'll go to Don Perico's. She loves Mexican food. Who doesn't?" Finnick says.

Peeta rolls his eyes. "You know we can't go there anymore. Not since the Christmas party."

"Wait, what happened at the Christmas party? Did I miss something?" Johanna asks excitedly.

"Dude, I can't believe you didn't go," Finnick starts. "Haymitch and Effie got caught… in the bathroom."

"No way!" Johanna practically shouts. "I thought she was with that cowboy boyfriend of hers?"

"Well she found another cowboy to ride that night. In the form of our own assistant manager."

Johanna cackles, practically falling on the floor laughing. "I can't believe I never heard about this happening."

"You didn't hear about it because Haymitch threatened to castrate everyone who was there. There was only a few of us left, but they pretty much banned us for life," Peeta relayed. "That's why we can't go there."

"Classic," Johanna says, still chuckling about the revelation.

"Doesn't matter," Finnick says. "I'll figure out another place and text you all the details later."

"What makes you think Katniss will agree to it? She's royally pissed at you for eating her lunch."

"It was delicious," Finnick says rubbing his stomach. "Her sister makes a mean sandwich."

Peeta glares at him.

"Let us worry about how to get Brainless there, Peeta-bread. Just be ready to get some tonight," Johanna says with a shit eating grin on her face.

Peeta purses his lips at her. "It's not about that, Johanna."

"Yeah yeah. You want it to mean something blah, blah, blah."

Peeta glares. "I'm heading back to work now."

"Don't worry, Peet. Just meet us there," Finnick yells at his retreating form.

"Don't forget to stop in the pharmacy for some condoms," Johanna yells after him. He flips her the middle finger as he pushes through the swinging doors, cackling echoes behind him as the doors shut.

Katniss rummages through her closet, desperately trying to find something to wear to dinner tonight. She can't believe she agreed to go. She was still really, really pissed at Finnick for the lunch incident. She was really hungry, but Mexican food sounded really good. And she was still hungry. She was also really good friends with Finnick's girlfriend Annie and she was going to be there at least. He had said it was going to be a group outing. She wasn't so sure she could handle all the social time, but… free food.

When she entered Sae's Mexican Grill she was surprised to see so many people. And one stood out more than most who also happened to be sitting next to the only empty seat. Now she wished she had worn something else other than her usual go to outfit of jeans and a flannel. At least she had shaved her legs the night before. Not that it mattered, because nothing could happen.

She sat down offering awkward hellos and when she looks to Johanna to send her a glare, she sends a not so subtle thumbs up and a nodding head. Katniss only glares at her harder.

Dinner starts off a bit awkward. Peeta sat beside her and made small talk as everyone around them chatted rather loudly. Katniss of course was more of an observer than a participator. But soon enough, dinner is served, then finished and the drinks start flowing freely. Conversation at the table gets rowdier.

Katniss tends to get bored when her friends start acting like this. She surveys the restaurant, having never been there and that's when she notices it. The dinner crowd is very busy. Hearts. Red ones. Pink ones. Lots of them. No freaking way. How did she miss the signs? She thought she had at least another week until this day rolled around.

"Is today fucking Valentine's Day?" she practically yells, causing the table to become silent. They all stare at her blankly for a few seconds until Johanna breaks the silence.

"You're even more brainless than I thought. You'd think someone who does the books every day would pay attention to the date," Johanna says. "It's the 13th. moron. If it were Valentine's day you know floral would've been hella busy this morning."

Katniss blushes at her outburst. Everyone is laughing at her, save for Peeta which she is grateful for. He gives her a small smile of encouragement. Before she can defend herself though, their table is surrounded by a small Mariachi group and the hostess, holding a huge bouquet of red roses.

"A rose and a song, for all the senoritas in the restaurant," he says, handing each of the women at the table one. Katniss begins to protest, but her words get lost in the song as the band starts to play. Finnick soon tries to join in with the Mariachi's, grabbing Annie's hand to serenade her and he completely butchers the words. Katniss can't help, but laugh along at how ridiculous it all is.

The song ends to everyone, but Katniss's dismay and the chanting of 'Otra! Otra!' and then 'aw' when the Mariachis move on to another table. This is Katniss's cue to leave. She stands and immediate protests are made.

"Sit down, Brainless it's only 8 o'clock."

"Johanna's right Katniss, you've barely had one drink," Annie pleads.

Katniss pulls cash out of her wallet and throws it on the table for her share of the bill. "You guys are crazy. I have to be at work at 4am tomorrow morning which you all know is one of the busiest mornings of the year."

She chances a glance at Peeta who has his eyes on his beer bottle and playing with the label. It almost seems like he's ignoring her and disappointment fills her. He made small talk earlier during dinner, but nothing to the extent that he might be interested in her. She shakes her head, now disappointed in herself for letting Johanna's words from this morning get to her.

"So what," Johanna yells to her. "I got roped into doing balloon bouquets. I have to be there at 5. With Delly. I can only handle so much cheer. Why do you think I'm drinking now?"

Katniss shakes her head. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," she says before turning and heading for the door. She may have seen Finnick motion to Peeta before turning, but that may have been wishful thinking.

She stops just outside the restaurant doors as the mid-February night air hits her. She shivers and puts the sweater on she has tied around her waist and starts walking home. She's barely passed the restaurant when she hears her name being called.

"KATNISS!"

She stops and turns abruptly, surprised to see Peeta jogging towards her. "Hey?" she says questioningly when he reaches her.

Peeta smiles and holds something up to her. "You forgot your flower."

Katniss crinkles her nose as he tries to hand her the rose. "Oh. I-" she stammers. "I sort of forgot it on purpose. I hate roses."

"Oh. Well then. No roses. Check," he says as he throws the offending flower into the trash bin next to them."

She laughs at the gesture, a thrill courses through her at his 'check.' They stand together awkwardly. Katniss stuffs her hands in her pockets and rolls back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"Well, I- uh. I wasn't lying when I said I needed to go. I really do need to get some sleep," she says pointing in the direction she's going.

"Right," Peeta says. "I gotta get home too. I work the same time you do. Bakers hours and all. Would you like a ride home?"

Katniss can't help the smile. "Thanks, but I just live around the corner. I came on foot."

"Oh. You don't live with your father?" He asks in surprise. Katniss shakes her head. A smile lights Peeta's face, which he tries to mask. "Can I walk you home?"

"Ok. I'll allow it."

He doesn't know what possessed him to ask, but here he is walking Katniss Everdeen to her apartment from the restaurant. All these years he's never had the courage to have a normal conversation with her. He can't blame the alcohol. He only had one beer. They reach her door where she pulls a set of keys out and unlocks her door. Peeta stands awkwardly, trying to decide whether he should say bye or wait for her to just enter her apartment. She turns to face him while he can decides.

"Peeta?" She asks, her face full of determination. "Would you like to come in for tea or… something?"

The words come out before he even thinks them.

"No. I… I gotta head to bed soon." _WHAT THE FUCK BRAIN?_ He turns to leave, mentally banging his head against the wall. _We're going to find a real wall once we head home._ He thinks he hears something along the lines of 'fuck it' when she speaks again.

"Peeta!" The determination in her voice stops him in his tracks and he turns slowly to face her. "You could… uh, you could go to bed here?"

The look on her eyes says exactly what the question implies. "Fuck it," mirroring her words before taking the few steps to reach her. The moment their lips meet is when their bodies collide into her front door. His hands weave into her hair and she opens her mouth to deepen the kiss. He moans when her tongue touches his and he grabs onto her hair tighter, making her whimper. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would ever be kissing her like this outside her apartment or anywhere for that matter.

Her hands travel to his hair, trying to pull him closer. She tugs and the action makes him thrust his hips into hers. "Nugh… Katniss," he manages to between kisses. "Maybe we should, ooh, take this inside."

She continues devouring his mouth for a few moments before nodding. "Ok," she breathes out. Reaching behind her, she turns the knob opening the door. They stumble in, still connected. Peeta kicks the door with his foot, effectively slamming it shut. He twirls her around and resumes the position they were in moments before in the hall.

The urgency winds down and Peeta pulls away slowly. Katniss's eyes are closed and Peeta has the opportunity to takes her in. Her face is flushed and she breathes heavily, trying to regain some sense of normalcy. He reaches up to brush a strand of hair off her face. It must have come loose from her braid when he tugged.

"Katniss?" Her eyes open and the normal gray are replaced, with black orbs. "Are you sure you want this? You need to tell me right now because for me, there's no going back?"

Without any hestitation, she nods. "Yes. This is what I want. No. This is what I need. I need you, Peeta."

Peeta pull her closer, so close he makes sure she can feel how much he needs her too. She sucks in a breath at the movement. His lips descend upon hers and she inhales, quickly pulling the breath from his own lungs and into hers. In one quick motion, he lifts her so that she wraps her legs around his waist.

"Bedroom?"

"Down the hall. Last door on the right," she says desperately. She weighs almost nothing and by the time Peeta enters the room, she's rocking against him. Moans and grunts fill the room as she tries desperately to get closer.

The room is dark when they enter. The only light coming in is from the glow of the moon coming in through the blinds that are still open from the day. He sets her down at the foot of her bed and she immediately pulls his shirt over his head. Her sweater follows before she takes the time to trace the muscles of his arms. Her small hands feel smooth moving across his chest and finally trail down his abs to find the button of his jeans and opens them. They fall to his ankles and he kicks them off along with his socks and shoes leaving him in only his boxer briefs. Through his underwear she can see the outline of his arousal. Her mouth visibly waters. She starts to unbutton her flannel, but Peeta stops her.

"May I?"

Katniss nods. He takes a deep breath, urging himself to calm down. To slow down. He doesn't want this over before it begins. He carefully pulls each button from their slots, slowly trailing his index finger down the center of her chest. He pulls the garment off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Katniss's chest heaves up and down. The simple black bra she wears is the perfect contrast against her olive skin. Her breath hitches as he traces the curve of her breasts. Peeta leans down to place a chaste kiss against the hollow of her neck. Her head rolls to the side and her eyes flutter shut. He slowly kisses down the valley of her breasts until he's on his knees in front of her, kissing down the flat of her stomach. He flicks open the button of her jeans and pulls them down her smooth legs and sits her down on the edge of the bed. He pulls off the flats she was wearing and tosses those off to the side, allowing him to remove her jeans fully.

"Lay down."

She does as he's told. "Katniss. Look at me."

She lifts her head, to meet his eyes. He stares intensely into her own.

"This isn't going to last long. I apologize for that. I'll make it last next time, but for now it's going to be quick. But I swear to you, before this night is over, I'm going to make you scream so loud the neighbors will know my name."

"Oh, God!" She whimpers at his words. If she wasn't drenched from earlier, she was now. Jesus Christ, nobody has ever made her feel this way with just words. Peeta is suddenly over her, his face parallel with her crotch. She has no words. Any sound she thought of making is now lodged in her throat, threatening to spill over as soon as he makes a move. He sends her a smirk just before pressing his nose into her clit through her underwear. She yelps, sensitive from how aroused she is. He rubs his nose a few more times before moving away and gently removing the offending garment.

Her legs fall completely open, ready for him to return to where he was. Unfortunately, he had other plans. She whimpers in protest as he moves above.

"We'll get to that I promise," he whispers peppering her face with kisses. The gesture is so incredibly sweet, she would never have guessed he was the same man who uttered those panties wetting words just moments ago. Her arms circle around his neck, effectively pulling him closer as their lips press urgently together. He settles between her legs and the weight of him above her has never felt so right. Soon, they're rocking into one another rapidly. Only the cloth of his underwear between them. He's rock hard and even now, she knows she won't last long.

"Peeta, please!" she all, but whines. "I need you."

"Katniss," he breathes. "Condom, in my… wallet."

"I have some in this drawer," she cries, still rocking up into him. "Hurry."

Peeta pulls away, retrieving the condom from the drawer she motions to and removes his underwear. Katniss can't help but stare at his cock as it juts free. She doesn't time to admire before he's got the condom open and rolling down his shaft. He returns to her side and the excitement returns as well.

He settles above her, brushing the her hair away from her face. "Peeta," her eyes, begging him to take her. So he does.

He enters her in one fluid motion, her legs automatically wind around his back to pull him closer. The feeling of being filled by Peeta is almost too much to bare. They find a steady rhythm until Katniss flips them over to where she is now on top, never breaking the connection. Her legs grip tightly around his hips and she lifts herself up and down. Peeta moves into a sitting position, taking a breast into his mouth. The sensation of Peeta sucking her nipple into his mouth has Katniss keening. He licks and nips at her breasts, alternating between the two. Katniss finds a her rhythm, her clit hitting his pubic bone is just the right area. Peeta groans underneath her. His forehead is dripping with sweat from the excursion and the will to last.

"Katniss," he pants. "I'm going to… I can't last much longer."

"Let go, Peeta."

"But…"

"I'm almost there," she cries.

"Katniss!"

"N..ugh, I'm coming," she cries. "Oh fuck, Peeta!"

Peeta stills underneath her, emptying himself into the condom. He holds her hips as they both ride out their orgasms. She collapses on top of him, drained. Peeta pulls her beside him, tucking her into the crook of his arm. She must drift off to sleep because the next thing she knows, Peeta is waking her in the most delicious way imaginable.

"You don't have to leave," she tells him as he's putting his shoes back on.

Peeta holds her chin to face him and places a lingering kiss on her lips. "I don't want to, but I kind of have to. I need to get changed for my shift in the morning. And I really don't need to go in smelling like I just had the best sex of my life. I'll never live it down."

She smiles, thinking of all their co-workers faces when they realize what's happened between them. Then she frowns thinking of her father.

"Hey, we won't tell them," Peeta reassures her. "Not until you're ready."

"Its not that I don't want to tell them, Peeta," she tries to explain.

"I know, Katniss. You don't need to explain," he says. "As long as I have you, in anyway that it is, I'm happy."

She smiles. "Come on I'll walk you to the door."

Peeta walks with a bounce in his step. When he woke up this morning, or rather yesterday morning, he didn't think things could change so drastically. But they had and he has Finnick and Johanna to thank for that. As much as he doesn't want to give them the satisfaction, eventually he'll have to, but he'll deal with that when it comes around. It's nearly midnight, so she tries to be quiet as she opens the door seeing as most of her neighbors are probably asleep. Peeta steps out before she can have a look out. Unfortunately, not all her neighbors are asleep.

"Hey, neighbor."

"Oh, fuck!"

"You know, you've been saying that a lot tonight," Johanna says with a smirk. "Hey, Peeta-bear. If I didn't know what your name was already, I do now."

Both Peeta and Katniss's ear turn bright red. The door to Johanna's apartment abruptly opens and Finnick and Annie walk out.

"Aw dammit. I lost the pool." Finnick cries.

Both Katniss and Peeta look at Johanna in question. Johanna shrugs, "I have dog ears."

"Wait a minute! You guys had a pool going on about us?" Katniss exclaims.

"Duh squared! Everyone but you two knew you wanted to bone each other," Johanna all but shouts. "Hey, it's true."

Katniss gives her a glare and Peeta just shrugs. "So who won the pool?" Katniss asks out of curiosity.

Johanna and Finnick share a glance.

"Well I'm happy for you two," Annie says suddenly. Katniss squints her eyes.

"Who?"

Annie laughs nervously.

"Don't tell her Annie." Finnick says.

"Your father."

"WHAT?!"

 _ **fin**_

 **AN: join me over on tumblr**

 **supersudzisecretlyamellark (personal)**

 **slagheapwhore (writing)**


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